Fire District No. 1 donates to Western Wyoming Scottish Rite Language Center

Fire District No. 1 donates to Western Wyoming Scottish Rite Language Center
Members of Sweetwater County Fire District No. 1 donated to the Western Wyoming Scottish Rite Language Center. Included in the donation were, Left to right, Steven Rech, Vince Lopez, Christy Calvey, Clark Allred

ROCK SPRINGS – For one small operation, taking care of children’s speech issues has been its goal since it opened in 2005. A recent donation will help make sure these children get the help they need.

Members of Sweetwater County Fire District No. 1 recently donated $1,000 to the Western Wyoming Scottish Rite Language Center. The center helps children with language barriers in the community for free and rely on donations to keep the service going.

Started in 2005 by the Scottish Rite Masons, the center has helped local children overcome difficult language barriers which enhances the student’s academic success. The center provides free speech language therapy for children from one-year-old to 17-years-old.

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The center helps students with autism, stuttering, dyslexia, apraxia and articulation and language delays as well as other language challenges. They also work with the hearing impaired to improve language skills.

Services are free and anyone is welcome although there are limits to how many students can be treated. Since it is free, there are no certain income levels a family has to meet to get help. If a parent believes their child could use help, they should bring them to the center located at the Masonic Lodge, 218 B St. The center will do an assessment of the child and if they feel help is needed the center will start the process.

Currently, the center is provide service to 12 students. In the summer, the number usually goes up to 20 as the pathologist becomes more available. There are currently seven students on a waiting list at this time. The center also helps with overflow from Sweetwater County School District No. 1 and the Sweetwater County Child Developmental Center.

The center has one pathologist who works closely with the students. Christy Calvey is not only the Speech Language Pathologist at the center, she also works full time with the school district.

The language center is a non-profit 501-(c)-3 which is ran by a five member board. The center is ran entirely on donations from the community, fund-raising efforts and some grant money. All money goes to the clinic to buy materials for students and for the daily operations. It takes around $18,000 a year to keep the center going.

Besides the local center, there are two other similar centers in Wyoming. They are located in Cheyenne and Sheridan.

 

Recently Sweetwater County Fire District No. 1 donated to the Western Wyoming Scottish Rite Language Center. Included were, left to right, Albert Sheddon, Christy Calvey, Loiuse Sheddon